


amazing how we got this far

by QueenWithABeeThrone



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Black Widow!Karen, Gen, Killer Alien Robots, Secret Identity Reveal, electrokinetic!Foggy, foggy is the worst at superpowers, matt's shitshow of a life, rip printer we hardly knew ye, terrible decisions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-04 01:30:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4121325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenWithABeeThrone/pseuds/QueenWithABeeThrone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"We are going to talk about--a lot of things, actually. Starting with: you're Daredevil."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"And you may want to explain where, exactly, did you learn Russian."</i>
</p><p> <i>"Russia."</i></p><p>Or: Aliens try to invade New York via robots. Matt and Karen get attacked in their office, and they both learn a few things about each other--and Foggy--that they didn't know before. (Alternately, Karen was a Black Widow agent, Foggy is an Inhuman with electrokinetic abilities who has not had training for it, and Matt is reexamining his shit life.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. sick of all the insincere

**Author's Note:**

> for a prompt on the kinkmeme (that I also posted, wow) that wanted Karen as a retired Black Widow agent _and_ Foggy as a mutant with a useless (or useful, but it only flares up in high-stress situations, so most of the time he really is p much baseline) ability, and Matt being oblivious to all this until big bad things happen again.
> 
> it wouldn't leave my head.
> 
> title from OneRepublic's "Secrets".

Matt is pretty sure he's in shock.

" _Matthew Murdock_ ," Karen says, jumping over the--the robot, okay, that's a _robot_ , Matt can hear the steel joints and wires and gears and there is an _alien robot invasion_ in progress in New York, he may be kind of freaking out over that right now. He's more freaking out over Karen having managed to _beat one's head off with a chair_. It's still moving, but it's on its last legs, and Matt ducks in and finishes it off with a cane through the stump of its neck. He spares a moment to feel very bad for himself, that's the fifth cane in three weeks. "We are going to _talk_ about--a lot of things, actually. Starting with: _you're Daredevil_."

"And you," Matt shoots back, grabbing another chair and shoving it up under the doorknob, not that it will help much, "may want to explain where, exactly, did you pick up the Russian curse words."

"Russia," says Karen, with an unsaid _duh_ , then: "You want to go first or should I?"

Another robot bursts through the door as though it's made of paper, and Matt grabs Karen and ducks behind her overturned desk, pulling her with him, as wooden splinters and shards of glass go everywhere.

"We're going to table that discussion for later," he says, hands slipping into the pockets where he's been keeping his escrima sticks. Beside him, he can hear Karen rummaging through her pockets, the faint trace of pepper spray wafting up to his nostrils. "Would pepper spray even work?"

"I buried any other weapon I had, let's hope it does," Karen says.

Matt can hear the robot advancing on them, its footfalls like a roar of thunder to his ears. He can hear the sound of weapons being readied, a succession of whirs and _click-clicks_ as various deadly weapons slide into place.

And, further off, the sound of a pair of familiar footsteps.

 _No,_ he thinks, praying that it's not who he thinks it is, that Foggy is coming up, and he can hear him hurrying his steps, _Foggy, no, leave, don't come up here, please--_

"Hey, asshole!"

Karen lets out a little gasp. "Oh, no," she whispers, "that's _Foggy_."

Matt readies his escrima sticks, then jumps over the overturned desk--

\--just in time for the robot to fall backwards at his feet. Matt can smell smoke coming from its downed body, but he can't find any discernible means of just how Foggy took it down, because that is _definitely_ Foggy with his hand outstretched, fingers splayed open as though he'd slapped the robot. Matt would know his heartbeat anywhere, even as fast as it's beating right now from the adrenaline.

" _Bozhe moi_ ," says Karen, poking her head up behind the desk. She still has her pepper spray in hand, but she's also managed to break off a chair leg. "Foggy, what did you do?"

"I made it short out," says Foggy, at last. "Uh. It's. Kind of a long story?"

"Short version," says Matt, because he's pretty sure he's going to have a small breakdown at this point. His best friend just _shorted out an alien robot_. He needs to sit down. He needs a drink. He needs a lot of drinks, he can feel a hysterical giggle building in his throat.

"I can short things out," says Foggy. "I've been able to since I was, like, this even more awkward teenager with zits and all, but always when I'm just really, really frustrated or stressed, which kinda fucks up a lot of laptops. Today's literally the only time it's ever come in useful." He points at Karen and says, "Also, what you said, earlier-- _that is not Spanish_. Is it?"

"No," says Karen, "it's Russian."

" _How do you know Russian_ ," Foggy says, his voice higher.

"Short version is: I used to be Russian," says Karen. "You guys know the Black Widow? We kind of trained together a few times, I haven't trained much in a while." She adds, a little more heated, "Also, you knew, didn't you? About--About Matt being _Daredevil_. I'd know the flipping anywhere."

Matt says, "You can _what_ ," to Foggy, then, "You were _what_ ," to Karen, in a tone that he will later assert was not bordering on hysterical.

"It was a pretty useless power up until now, I thought it would never come up!" Foggy says, throwing his hands up. "Also, while I would love to hear more about Karen's sordid past as--as a _spy_ , shit, has everyone forgotten about the army of alien robots?"

"Can you do that thing again?" Karen says, because Matt's still trying to reconcile his view of his best friends with this recent revelation. "Where you shorted out the robot?"

"Yeah, I think I can, I'm pretty mad right now," says Foggy, a thread of anger weaving into his tone. "I can totally short out a few killer robots, _no problem_ , let me just run up to them and hopefully _not get stabbed_."

"We won't let you get stabbed," says Matt, pulling himself together. There's work to do. "After this, we're going to have a very long talk."

\--

fin.


	2. gonna give all my secrets away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The printer's not working, can you help me get it going?"_
> 
> Or: Karen and Foggy make a spectacularly terrible decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I'm so sorry._
> 
> (but I did love writing the banter.)

Foggy wants to say things get back to normal, afterwards. He _wants_ to, but he'd be lying, because he finds himself watching Karen extra-closely. She doesn't deserve that, he knows, Karen's a good person who did things in her past that she's trying to make up for, but--well, the stuff she said about the Red Room still sticks with him.

 _What if_ , a small part of him keeps thinking, _what if, what if_. He wishes he could stop thinking it, but Karen had been surprisingly understanding about it--apparently, they were the same thoughts she was having, sometimes, about herself, the same what-ifs that were cycling through her mind when she first decided her name was Karen Page.

He doesn't know what to think about that, except, _god, Karen, you really got the short end of the stick here,_ because she has. It's one thing to do something and feel bad about it. It's another to do something and not _know_ if you did it, truly, or if it was implanted into your head, if you carried it out under orders or not.

But at least there's no secrets anymore between any of them, and it should make Foggy feel happy, free as a bird and light as a cloud, except right now he's feeling the exact opposite of it.

Right now he's just staring at his computer, because it's loading his e-mail so slowly that he's tempted to go over and give the router a good slap to get it going. Except, no, that would be a _horrible_ idea that would end in them needing a new router. And possibly also a desk.

"Foggy!" Karen shouts.

Foggy jumps, then, guiltily, settles down in his chair. _It's just Karen,_ he tells himself. "Yeah?" he calls back.

"The printer's not working, can you help me get it going?"

_What._

"What? No!"

Karen pushes the door open, and shakes her head. "Come on, Foggy," she pleads, "I tried _everything_. I pressed the buttons, I hit it with my hand, with Matt's _cane_ , I turned it on and off, I plugged and unplugged the damn thing, and it _still won't work_."

"And if you ask _me_ to do it, either it'll keep not working or we'll have to get ourselves a new printer." He waves a hand at his laptop, which he is strenuously _not touching_. He's had it for like, a year by now. That's a new record for him. "Karen, come on, don't you have some super-assassin skills that you could use to get the printer going?"

As soon as the words are out of his mouth he winces, because _Jesus_ , way to stick your foot in your mouth and bring up the past she doesn't want to talk about, Nelson, but Karen just snorts out a laugh. "Unfortunately, I'm kinda limited to stabbing and shooting things when they don't cooperate," she says. "Maybe some pepper-spraying? But that won't work on a printer." She mock-pouts in his direction. "Please, Foggy."

He shakes his head. "Sorry, K, no way," he says.

Karen lets out a long sigh. "I'll use those super-assassin skills to get you bagels at a discount from the bakery around the corner," she says. "Plus, think of it like this: your--uh, electrokinesis? Is probably not limited to just shorting things out when your day is sucking really badly."

"Electro--you _have_ been doing research about this."

She shrugs. "You could try it out. Maybe if you concentrate the printer will like you better than it likes me."

"Nah, I think it usually likes you better," Foggy says, waving a hand in their printer's direction, "it's just very mad right now because you killed its robot brethren in front of it."

"In my defense its robot brethren was trying to kill me and Matt first," says Karen. "Come on. _Bagels_."

Foggy lets out a slow breath. "By super-assassin skills, you mean--"

"I'll talk the guy into a discount," says Karen.

"Fine," says Foggy, pointing a finger at her. "But if this goes wrong, I reserve the right to say _I told you so_ for the next three days."

\--

(When Matt gets back, someone's carting away the sad, burnt remains of their printer, and Karen and Foggy are glumly sharing a bag of bagels.

"What happened?" he asks. He can smell smoke from a block away. He's more than a little worried.

"Electrical fire," says Foggy. "We're down a printer." He turns to Karen and opens his mouth, as though to say something.

Karen stuffs a bagel into his mouth before he can.)


End file.
